Snapshot Serengeti crowdsourcing zoology with remote cameras

Snapshot Serengeti users identify the species, behavior, and number of animals in view.

Scientists studying the behavior of animals in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park are enlisting the help of Internet animal lovers to identify the thousands of animal photographs collected from 225 motion-activated cameras in the nature preserve.

The Serengeti Lion Project uses Scoutguard 565 and DLC Covert Reveal cameras set up with motion sensors and white light flashes to capture night activity without disturbing the wildlife too much. The cameras store images to an SD card that they researchers pick up periodically. If the cameras haven't been compromised by clumsy elephants or hungry hyenas, the photos are uploaded to Snapshot Serengeti for identification.

On the Snapshot Serengeti site, users create a log in and start looking though the 30 different species to find the right match. Once a user has picked out the right animal, they must choose the amount of animals in the frame, what the animal is doing and whether or not there are young present.